Police: Fatal beating appears random

Trio arrested after heist at strip club, man's fatal beating

Updated 9:23 am, Saturday, March 30, 2013

Police investigate at a house in the 4200 block of Fortuna, where three people were arrested after a 48-year-old man was fatally beaten and robbery was committed at a strip club.

Police investigate at a house in the 4200 block of Fortuna, where three people were arrested after a 48-year-old man was fatally beaten and robbery was committed at a strip club.

Photo: John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News

Image 2 of 4

Christopher J. Padilla is suspected in the killing as well as the robbery of Tiffany's Cabaret.

Christopher J. Padilla is suspected in the killing as well as the robbery of Tiffany's Cabaret.

Image 3 of 4

Tyler W. Miller, 20, was arrested after a brief struggle. Police found him after obtaining a search warrant.

Tyler W. Miller, 20, was arrested after a brief struggle. Police found him after obtaining a search warrant.

Image 4 of 4

Oscar Pena, 35, had outstanding warrants. He has not been linked to the robbery or the slaying.

Oscar Pena, 35, had outstanding warrants. He has not been linked to the robbery or the slaying.

Police: Fatal beating appears random

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

The fatal beating of a man on the West Side early Friday appeared to have been a random attack committed by a group of men on a crime spree that began at a Northwest Side strip club, police said.

The victim was identified by the Bexar County medical examiner's office late Friday as 47-year-old Baldemar Perez. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.

Two men have been arrested in the case. Christopher Padilla, 21, is suspected of committing a robbery about midnight at Tiffany's Cabaret in the 8700 block of Wurzbach Road before he and Tyler Miller, 20, beat Perez to death in the 500 block of Old Highway 90, police said.

“Right now it appears that they just randomly picked this individual and beat him for no reason, which is very disturbing,” Officer Matthew Porter said as the two were taken to the city's magistrate's office to face a judge.

They'll be charged with murder, and Padilla will face an additional charge of robbery, Porter said.

A woman who witnessed the attack said she and Perez had been looking for a set of keys in front of her grandmother's house about 1 a.m. when they were approached by three unknown men who emerged from a green SUV that parked next to the victim's truck.

She said the men began cat-calling her and asked if they could help find the keys, but she declined.

One of the men then punched Perez in the face, knocking him to the ground. As he fell, the other two began hitting him as well.

The woman said one of the men turned toward her as if he wanted to fight her, but she called police and reported the SUV's license plate number. She said that when the men noticed she was calling police, they drove off.

Officers said Perez was found in a pool of blood, wedged face-down between the sidewalk and the woman's Ford Crown Victoria, his face battered.

He was pronounced dead at 1:36 a.m.

Witnesses to the robbery at Tiffany's had given police the SUV's license plate number, which led officers to the suspects at an address in the 4200 block of Fortuna, about 12 blocks north of the fatal attack on Old Highway 90.

Two men were arrested and the SUV was seized.

A third suspect hid in the house, and police got a search warrant to enter, Porter said. After a brief struggle, he also was arrested.

Investigators believe Padilla and Miller, the man who hid inside the home, were responsible for the killing, Porter said.

He said the third man, Oscar Pena, 35, hasn't been linked to the killing or the robbery but was arrested because of several outstanding municipal warrants.

Porter said Pena could face more charges as the investigation progresses.

No further details about the robbery were available.

aley@express-news.net

Latest from the Chron.com Homepage

Click below for the top news from around the Houston area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.